Instagram Releases New Visual Storytelling Ad Format

Instagram’s latest advertising option, carousel ads, allows businesses to resonate with others through the power of visual storytelling.

The new ad format, similar to Facebook’s multi-product ads, displays several sequenced photos with links in one sponsored Instagram post. Based on feedback from both businesses and the Instagram community, the new format was created to give users more information about a brand, and businesses more meaningful results.

In Instagram’s recent blog post, they compared the new carousel ads to multi-page print campaigns:

“One way to look at it is carousel ads bring the potential of multi-page print campaigns to mobile phones – with the added benefit of taking people to a website to learn more. For instance, a fashion company could use the carousel to deconstruct the individual products in a ‘look.’ A car company might share an array of different features of a vehicle and provide a link to learn more about the new model. Or, an advertiser could showcase how multiple ingredients come together to make a delicious meal.”

Interested users can swipe left to view more photos, or uninterested users can simply scroll past the ad in their feed.

The new ad format is being introduced on a limited basis, and will be rolling out in Instagram feeds in the coming weeks for testing.

Here’s a video shared by Instagram displaying how the ads will appear:

What do you think of the new Instagram carousel ads? Will you be adding them to your list of social media marketing tactics to try? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.